100% of your donation is used to provide education and health care services to the people of southwest Uganda.

Your donation is spent wisely due to BARHD’s frequent supervisory trips to Uganda and insistence on accountability.

BARHD’s Board is committed to making its programs a success.

Our Board

Amy Williams, President

Amy is a former teacher who made her first trip to Uganda in 2007. She joined the board after that trip and became President in 2010. Developing partnerships with several non-profits, she has increased the services that BARHD provides to include the drilling of fresh water wells and the distribution of mosquito nets and HIV/AIDS test kits. She has traveled to Uganda every year since 2007.

Jo Ann Parsons, Orphan Program Coordinator

Jo Ann is a former high school math teacher and bookkeeper for her husband Joe’s engineering company. She has been involved with BARHD from the start, traveling first to Uganda with her daughter in 2006. After that trip, she became Orphan Program Coordinator, and she and Joe have returned to Uganda every year since. They expanded the education program to include university sponsorship in 2009.

John Staedke, Secretary

John made his first trip to Uganda with BARHD in 2008 and has been actively engaged since. In addition to his duties as Secretary, John’s responsibities include financial review and auditing. He is also editor of the monthly newsletter. He is primarily involved with BARHD’s health care programs, specifically in the support of the Beverly Health Clinic. John is a retired computer services executive with international business experience.

JoAnn Belknap, Director

JoAnn’s focus has been in health care. She has been on the board since 2009 and has been instrumental in raising funds to complete the maternity ward, staff house, and wellness center at the Dr. B Clinic – which was named in honor of her late husband, Hal. JoAnn helped establish the first Oklahoma Cancer Resource Center in Norman, OK.

Becky Porter, Assistant Orphan Program Coordinator

Becky joined BARHD’s board in 2014 after her fourth trip to Uganda as part of BARHD’s supervisory team. She is a former teacher in Morocco and in the Norman, Oklahoma Public School System. Besides working with BARHD, Becky has extensive involvment in international NGOs, working in Nairobi’s Kibera Slum, teaching English in Chiang Mai, Thailand, and as a part of medical missions to Nepal and Ghana. She is currently serving as a Court-Appointed Special Advocate while staying active in the Norman Homeless Shelter.

Joe Parsons, Co-Founder and Manager of Accounting

Joe, along with Tom Wilson and Steve Heath, founded BARHD in 2006. His duties include accounting and budget control as well as media development. Joe’s primary interests lie in education with particular involvement in the sponsorship of university students. He is a Petroleum Engineer.

Bushenyi Alliance for Rural Health & Development (BARHD) was formed in 2006 as a 501 (c) (3) nonprofit, humanitarian organization for the purpose of providing secondary education and basic health care services to the people of rural southwest Uganda. Currently BARHD sponsors 317 secondary students and 21 university students and operates 4 rural health clinics.